ID This Stray?

I don't know if this is bamboo or not, there isn't any closer than 1/4 mile away as the crow flies. Plus it's in the middle of nowhere on a very heavily rocked quazi-roadway in the woods!

It stands about 5 ft tall now, one main stalk with another small one starting.
Here is the whole mystery plant
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v293/poochella/Yard%20and%20Garden/bamboo-1206.jpg

Leaf end close up:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v293/poochella/Yard%20and%20Garden/bambooleafend.jpg

And the closest up of the jointed stem and leaves.
Thanks for any help you can give me. It's not on my property, but if it's bamboo I might ask permission to remove it.

The dreaded Bamboo and I doubt it is clumping. Good bye Pacific NW soon it will be all Bamboo and Blackberry. It is time to drop a nuke there this could spread to Montana. LOL

That is the lovely and somewhat well behaved Black Bamboo (Phyllostachys nigra). I'm sure that was planted. They are rather pricey at the nursery and are, unfortunately succeptible to spider mites.

This is a pic of Phyllostachys nigra Bory

Nonsense Sofer, my Japanese knotweed will reach MT borders before this wee little sprout! Hope not. It is beyond awful. I planted shade beds over it after trying mightily to eradicate every root LOL! Interesting beds, those. High maintenance, one might say.

Black bamboo! That stuff went like hotcakes at the last Green Elephant Swap I attended.
I can't imagine anyone would plant black bamboo here in the middle of nowhere! It's in the middle of a heavily rocked roadway required for logging trucks. Could it have spread by seed possibly, or by intentional root planting only? I'm telling you it's wilderness, or close to it; far from any established yards.

Growin, if I dig it up do you want it?

I'd need to get an import permit and phytosanitary certificate to get it across the border. I bet someone intentionally planted it. It's a desireable bamboo - a clumper. It went like hotcakes at the Green Elephant swap because its desireable.

The Devil planted it Poochella don't be tempted! The evil monster will grow so fast you will have Panda bears eating your cats and dogs. I warned you.

Sorry Growin, I forgot you were a 'foreigner' to the north with all those phytosanitation regulations. I will find some other interested party. And I don't think it's going to be Soferdig and I know it's not going to be me.

There is one neighbor in the area who has quite an extensive set of gardens in the area and was mad that the neighbor on whose property lives the bamboo. So maybe she planted it in retaliation or a reforestation effort!

Anyone want black bamboo if I can get permission to remove it?
MURMUR? HUNDRED BAMBOO ACRES WOODS ?????

Now, now Soferdig. Not all bamboos are created equal, you know. Black bamboo is a slow grower and isn't likely to make it to your place in Montana any time soon. Now, my neighbor's bamboo that leans over the fence into the street is another story.

Dig that sucker up and put it in a pot. It's a really lovely species. I have some, or I'd trade you. If you offer it on the trade forum, you'll get lots of 'bites'. Hold out for something good! Unlike other bamboo, this one is a bit tender about being dug up. I dug some up at my sister's last winter and half of it died, even though technically it would have been dormant at the time. You might kill it unintentionally. Then Soferdig will be able to sleep at night!! LOL!!

Pixy's right, put it in trade and you'll get lots of bites. Winter's the perfect time to dig bamboo but don't leave it out of the ground too long or they toast. I'd try and keep it as large a root mass as possible - looks like a 5 gallon. Don't let it dry out. It was definitely planted by someone.

I have some growing in a tub anyone want to go for a little ride to montana.Ernie

Meet Susie see the bird in front of her.

Ernie you have the best dogs! If I ever get up to the far north of WA, as I hope to on a dahlia tour next summer, I'm going to beg to come meet your doggies! Beautiful photo there.

You know, I was going to tell you all that no one could have purposefully planted this bamboo given its location. But I scraped away the fallen leaves the other day, and sure enough, there is definitely a rootball and mound and different soil buried right there amid packed large rocks which provided a roadway heavy enough for loaded logging trucks. It's just too weird to find such a foreign plant in that location. I have a suspect in mind.....

"Don't let it dry out!" Growin, we are smack dab in the midst of one of the wettest climates in the vicinity, save for the Hoh Rain Forest on the peninsula. It won't dry out, trust me.

I love my black bamboo. It is a clumper and slower to grow than most but so lovely. I am doing a hedge of it since it is so well behaved. I agree that this ID is a black bamboo and if I lived closer I would take it.

Japanese knotweed is the worst! When I was a kid I planted it in the garden at my parents home not knowing what it was other than it looked similar to the bamboo in Taiwan and that stuff took over the entire back yard before Dad found a poison that killed it. That was in Montana so that stuff is already there. I only hope people don't turn it loose in the forests.

Japanese Knotweed: It's all over here already Ponditis. Overtaking waterways, valleys, roadsides. You can spot it, especially in bloom, in late summer just about everywhere.

What I want to know, Is what poison did your Dad use that might have actually harmed it? I am 99% organic but am willing to cross over to the 'dark side' of chemistry if needed. This stuff on our lot was planted by the former owners of our house and has subsequently sprawled many, many square yards out of bounds. It's now heading for the black bamboo! Those two could duke it out for domination of the entire East King County, but I'd rather not let that happen....

Poochella - I talked to the Thurston County Noxious Weed Control Board in 2004 about Japanese Knotweed. The person I spoke to said that they had to use a syringe of Roundup, and inject it directly into the stem. You might check with the King County Board to see if they have any specific recommendations.

Fortunately Roundup breaks down relatively quickly in warm weather. However, the detergent used to make the Roundup "wetter" (so that it will stick to a plant) is more toxic to fish than the Roundup itself. If there is the possibility of runoff into streams or other bodies of water, they may recommend Rodeo instead. It's chemically similar to Roundup, but doesn't have the detergent.

Roundup works great if injected into knotweed and bamboo too from what they taught us at Master Gardeners. I have no idea what Dad used back then to kill it but I would think it was heavy doses of something like 2,4--D

I agree that if you are spraying or injecting near water you should use Rodeo.

You guys are a lot of fun. I love Black Bamboo too, but there are several that turn black. Japanese Black Bamboo is Phyllostachys nigra, and it just is to high maintainance to really like. I brought home from work this gorgeous little freeby, I got from a guy at work that was doing landscaping on the side on the weekend. It had lots of soil and weighed about the same as a sack of grain, It had 2 6 foot stems and oolala it seemed pretty.
That was 10 years ago, and now the clump is 30 feet long and 15 feet wide. It falls on the ground all the time so we had to put a number of 7 foot fence posts in there, and then pipes over them to have something to tie them up to. IT DOES NOT CLUMP, EVER. One good thing about it is that it burns very fast. Another thing, you just cannot always beleive people at a nursery when they tell you that this bamboo is a clumping type. I bought one
that was supposed to be clumping. I planted it and it did nothing. The following year it did nothing. I lawn mowed it with a riding mower. I thought that was the end of it for 2 more years, and then it cam back with a vengeance and for the next 2 years it sent runners as long as 8 feet long and an inch in diameter under the sidewalk, lifting it up. That was Phyllostachys edulis, or so it was labled. Last summer my wife and I dug it up.
wegot all of it. except for the 3 feet still under the sidewalk. It is still there getting stronger and bigger and just waiting to make a break for it. It is posessed. Do you still like the stuff? Frank

I do like the stuff. If you mow most bamboo, it will be a runner 'cause ya just cut its head off. I'd run if you try and mow me over too. P. edulis is a Timber Bamoo which clumps and when its old enough, sends out a runner for another clump. If you would have left that clump, it would have produced a nice clump without being mowed. P. nigra is a clumper but will send out a runner when its old enough. Ever thought of using a bamboo barrier to keep it in the spot you want it? A raised bed can work too, even a large container.

I love that timber bamboo!! There is a nursery down in Orting that has a large, very old patch of the stuff and it's like a small forest! My son would give a lot to have something like that on our property, but by the time it got that big he'd be too old to enjoy it. LOL! Great photo! My motto: there are no bad plants. Only bad places. And some plants need 'playpens' to keep them safe!

Ever notice how just reading certain words, or hearing them, like Japanse Knotweed..... that you get a sense of G-r-r-rrrrr -- almost immediately! I hate that stuff! But thanks for the idea of injecting it with Roundup..... I may give that a try. I thought I had a handle on the stuff in one bed, only to find it had spread across the walkway and started to take over again. Even in the grass.....